Horse Stone (Book 1 of Ilyrian Series)

Chapter 3

Mrs. Treat looked me up and down. She pursed her lips, and I could tell that she was judging me because of the well that I looked. She didn't think that I had had good lessons by the fact that I was wearing holey jeans and an old sweatshirt that belonged to my father. "Well," she said, forcing a smile on her face. "How much experience did you have?"

I shrugged, knowing full well that she didn't care about me at all. It made me annoyed that she didn't care about her students, and I was sure that all she cared about was money, something that my father had. "I had a decent amount of training," I replied. "I mean, my mother was my trainer."

"And, she is a great rider," my father said. He scowled, causing Mrs. Treat to flinch. He folded his arms across his chest and looked at her as if he was looking at one of us. Anger made its way on his face, and I could tell that he was getting protective of us.

"Someone is going to be doing chores," Gwen muttered, causing me to bite lip to keep from snickering. She nudged me and smiled when I turned to look at her.

"Or a book report," Izzy added, softly. She shuddered, and I knew that it was because she hated writing book reports.

"My apologies, Joe. I should've known that your wife would have taught your daughters to ride," Mrs. Treat said. She placed a hand on his arm and batted her eyelashes. "I am sure that your daughter would do so well with my horses and am sure that you would be willing to help... if she needs it."

I bit back a retort and moved back into the line with my sisters. I was shocked to see her touching my father's arm, and I could tell that she was trying to flirt. A look of disgust flickered on my face before I was able to cover it up.

"Is she really flirting with him?" Gwen asked, disgust evident in her voice. She kept it quiet, only having the girls around us hear it. "Isn't she married?"

"From what Dad had told us, yes," another of my sisters, Evelyn said, moving closer so that we could talk. "I don't know why she is flirting with him." She glanced at the youngest of our siblings. "I don't think that it is appropriate for them to see a married female trying to flirt with another man."

I shrugged my shoulder and watched as my father backed away from her. I could tell that he didn't approve of her flirting with him and knew that he was close to releasing his temper. "Hey, Dad," I called, causing Mrs. Treat and my father to look at me. I offered him a small smile, trying to tell him to calm down. "I think we want to find our rooms and get settled." I looked at Mrs. Treat and pursed my lips in disgust because I did not like her one bit. "When can I come over to see the barn?"

Mrs. Treat scowled but then forced a smile on her face. She placed her arms around her back and cleared her throat with a little squeak. "Oh, you can come whenever you want, Dearie," she said. "Liam has the folder of your... horse."

I glanced at the male to see him looking for something. I looked around and saw that there was something behind his feet, and I was sure that that was the folder that Mrs. Treat was talking about. I bit my lip and nudged my older sister to show her where the folder was, causing her to snort, softly.

"Liam," Mrs. Treat said through gritted teeth. She tried to keep a smile on her face, but it was turning more and more into a scowl. "The folder."

"Well, I kind of lost the folder, Mother," he said, speaking for the first time. "I do seem to have lost it." He had a British accent, and I couldn't help but wonder if his mother had sent him to a boarding school in Great Britain.

Izzy grabbed my arm, her nails digging into my arm. She loved people with British accents. I could hear her squeal, even though she wasn't squealing, and pictured her jumping up and down.

"What did you say?" Mrs. Treat asked.

I cleared my throat, causing both to look at me. I gestured for the blonde male to turn around so that he could see the folder behind him.

Liam turned around to see the folder behind him. He grabbed the folder and ran it over to me. "Here," he said. "Thanks," he mouthed.

I smiled and nodded my head, taking the folder from him. I opened it to see a glaring black gelding looking at the camera as if he was about to attack it. "Rollin' in the Dark," I read. "Shadow as his barn name."

Liam frowned and looked at his mother. "Mom, he could hurt her. Why him? She is a good rider. You don't have to test her."

I skimmed through the file, and my heart broke for him. I could tell that he had lost trust in humans and understood how he felt. I could see the pain that he was trying to hide, and I couldn't help but understand how he felt. "No, no," I said. "I think I will be able to handle him."

"He's nearly killed most of the riders that tried to ride him and bit the trainers that tried to train him," Lima said, turning back to look at me. Anger and worry filled his eyes as he looked me up and down. "You could get injured or worse."

I lifted my head from the file and looked at him. I knew that he wasn't judging me but was trying to protect me, and I was grateful for that. "I could, but I could, also, save a life." I flipped through the file. "It says here that if he has one more mishap or someone suing him, then it could lead to his death. I can not let that happen."

"But, we almost lost you, Ley. I don't think we can take another incident," Cat said, coming over to us. Worry filled her eyes, and I hated that she was worried about me. She should be worried about college, not about me.

I offered her a smile. "It's not going to be the first horse that tries to say that he is the boss, and it won't be the last. I am going to do that rescue, remember?"

"But, that is after college," my father said, walking over to me. Pride shone in his eye, and it made my heart swell. He stood in front of me and smiled, pushing a strand of black hair behind my ears. "If you want to do it, do it. Just don't wear yourself out too much. You are still healing."

I nodded my head, understanding what he meant. "Yes, Sir," I said. I looked at the house and then looked at him. I was so curious as to what my room looked like, but I didn't go in just yet. "Can we..?"

Dad smiled and nodded. He took a step back to look at his twelve daughters. "Yes, go find your rooms. Some of you will have to either share a bathroom, a bedroom, or both." He smirked. "Don't worry, those that have to share a bedroom get their own separate bathroom." He smiled when we cheered. He stepped out of the way and gestured to the house. "You twelve may go check it out. Welcome to your new home."

I looked at my twin and smirked. I pushed her before starting to run to the house.

"Girls, no pushing and shoving," our father said, laughing as we started to run to our new house. "Behave yourselves."

***

I entered a deep red room and looked around to see paintings that one of my sisters had done. It was big, and I could tell that she was the only one that had this room. "CAT, I FOUND YOUR RO-OM," I yelled from where I was at. I walked out of the room and started to make up the stairs and onto the second floor.

"And, I found your room," Cat said, coming down the stairs from the second floor. "You have your own room and share a bathroom with Izzy."

I nodded and started to run up the steps. "Your door is opened. I don't know if you have to share a bathroom with anyone or not," I yelled.

"Dad has your cat," Cat yelled. "She is running up."

I heard a mewl and looked down to see my tabby cat running towards me. "Hi, kitty," I said with a laugh when she paused and scowled at me. I knelt down and wiggled my fingers, trying to coax her to me. "I am sorry for leaving you in the car. Do you forgive me?"

Tigra mewled and walked over to me. She purred and rubbed her head underneath my outstretched hand. She rubbed her face against my arm and flicked her tail, causing me to chuckle.

"Come on, let's go find our room. Ya? I want to see if you got the towers like I had asked Dad." I stood and wiped my hands on my jeans before running all the way up to my room. I was excited, yet nervous, about how things will turn out.

I hoped that things... well people from my past wouldn't show up, but I knew that that was wishful thinking. Some stuff seemed to have the habit of turning up when you didn't want it to...